The Boys & Girls Clubs of South County have been teaching and encouraging academic success, healthy lifestyles and character and leadership skills for its members since its inception.

Now the clubs can add one more lesson to its list – sustainability.

Thanks to a generous donation from GEITS Global, in connection with CollectiveSun and the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation, the Imperial Beach Clubhouse is the recipient of solar panels that will help to improve the clubhouse’s green capabilities.

“We are extremely grateful to have been selected as recipients of the solar panels,” said Ken Blinsman, Boys & Girls Clubs of South County CEO. “A core piece of Boys and Girls Clubs’ Formula for Impact is healthy lifestyles; that includes keeping the planet healthy, too.”

The solar panels have a peak power maximum of 80Wp, a module length of 1,696 mm, a module width of 374 mm and a module thickness of 1.7 mm. Each panel weighs less than 4 pounds.

Sara Hernandez, Boys & Girls Clubs’ spokesperson, said the solar panels are the next step toward the clubs’ commitment to sustainability. The clubs already have a great recycling program in place, as well as their own organic garden created through the help of Susie’s Farms and volunteers from the Girl Scouts. The clubs also are partnered with I Love a Clean San Diego, an organization which promotes awareness about sustainable living to club members.

“We focus on academic success here, as well as healthy lifestyles and character and leadership,” Hernandez said. “Making sure the earth is around for many generations to come is an important part of being healthy. What we teach them here, we’re hoping they can take those practices home with them and share them with their families.”

New solar panels donated to the Boys and Girls Clubs of South County will assist in the clubs' sustainability efforts.

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New solar panels donated to the Boys and Girls Clubs of South County will assist in the clubs' sustainability efforts.

GEITS Global – headquartered in Adelaide, Australia, and with offices in the United States – is a technology infrastructure company that works on major projects in the fields of power management, water management and waste management. It services utilities, municipalities, mining businesses and government entities. All of GEITS’ projects are environmentally sound and sustainable.

GEITS Global made the donation to the Boys & Girls Clubs at the request of CollectiveSun, an agency which works exclusively with nonprofit organizations to help make sustainable solar power more affordable to implement.

CollectiveSun helps raise the funds for nonprofits to go solar by providing an attractive solar investment opportunity to investors. Through the program, investors are paid back with annual principal and interest payments over a 10-year period.

The solar panels were received from GEITS on May 23 during a special ceremony and are being stored for future installation. Hernandez said it will cost another $25,000 for the converters and installation of the solar panels, and the Boys & Girls Clubs of South County first must raise those funds before they can proceed with installation. The clubs will be working with CollectiveSun to raise the additional funds.

“This is an ongoing project and we will definitely be continuing our relationship with CollectiveSun throughout the next phase,” said Hernandez.

To make a donation to the Boys & Girls Clubs of South County, visit bgcscounty.org for a listing of the numerous ways in which to give.